


Robbie Lewis and the Dragon - A Modern Legend

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Hathaway may not be a damsel in distress and Robbie Lewis' armour is non-existent, but Robbie is still going to protect his sergeant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Robbie Lewis and the Dragon - A Modern Legend

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta notluvulongtime

Inspector Lewis looked at his sergeant and thought he looked even paler than usual.  “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s just that I thought a saw a dragon earlier.”

“Don’t be daft; dragons don’t exist.  Except as Chief Superintendents.”

“Ha!  But if it wasn’t a dragon, I don’t know what it was.”

***

The following morning, Hathaway was huddled down in his chair when Lewis came into the office.

“You look worse than yesterday.”

“I saw it again.”

“James, there are no such things as dragons.  Do you think you should see a doctor?”

***

On the third day, Lewis was convinced that Hathaway smelt of smoke – not cigarette smoke, but the sort of smoke that is emitted by burning buildings.  He refrained from commenting, but resolved to keep an eye on the younger man.

***

The next morning Hathaway failed to come in.  Lewis waited for half an hour; the traffic had been bad and it was possible that he’d been held up.  When he still didn’t appear, Lewis left the office and drove round to Hathaway’s flat, letting himself in with the spare key.  He called out, and although Hathaway didn’t reply, Lewis could hear noises from the bedroom.

He walked down the passageway and knocked on the bedroom door.  He barely heard Hathaway’s ‘yes’ in response and went in to find the other man sitting on his bed with the duvet pulled up to his ears.

“It got into the flat,” Hathaway was clearly petrified.

“It’s not here at the moment.” 

Lewis wasn’t sure what to do for the best, but decided to use the tone he had adopted when his children were small and something woke them.  It wouldn’t be the first time he’d opened the back door to let out a cow that Lynn was convinced she’d heard.  He walked round the entire flat, making sure that Hathaway could hear his footsteps and would know that there was nothing untoward anywhere.

As he finished his circuit, he passed the front door and noticed that there was a smell of sulphur.  He bent down to see if there was a mark on the carpet, but there was nothing visible.  He was surprised that he hadn’t noticed the smell when he first came in, but presumed that in his anxiety to check on Hathaway, he hadn’t paid it any attention.  And then he realised that the smell was growing stronger.

He could feel himself starting to panic and tried to convince himself that dragons don’t exist.  He realised that whatever logical thought he possessed was being defeated by not only the smell, but also by the fact that the front door now appeared to be emitting heat.  But he was determined that whether this was an actual dragon or not, it would have to get past him before it could reach Hathaway.

He adopted a defensive stance.  The police manual spoke about how to protect oneself when threatened by a suspect.  Lewis wasn’t sure whether the same principles applied to dragons, but it was the best he could do.  And then he became aware that the door was cooling down and the smell was disappearing.  He waited until he could no longer feel nor smell anything untoward and then returned to Hathaway’s bedroom.

“It’s gone for now,” Lewis said.  “But I think you and I need to have a talk.”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I’ll phone Innocent and tell her I’ll be back later.”

Lewis rang her.  “Hello, ma’am.  You were right about Hathaway getting something.  He appears to have got it.  I’m going to make sure he’s okay – pop out and get some Lemsips – and I’ll be in this afternoon.”

He rang off and then turned to Hathaway.  “I’m going to make us both some coffee and then you can tell me all about the dragon.”

Hathaway had cautiously emerged from his bedroom and scuttled into the living room, so Lewis brought the coffee through and sat down next to him on the settee.

“On Monday, when you said you thought you’d seen a dragon, you didn’t mean that it was something that looked a bit like a dragon, you meant that you’d half seen it, but you knew it was a dragon.  I’m right, aren’t I?” Lewis began.

“Yes,” Hathaway muttered miserably.

Lewis thought carefully.  Whether or not he believed in dragons, Hathaway certainly did.  And therefore, he needed to approach the problem from Hathaway’s viewpoint.

“Is this just any dragon, or is it a specific one?”

“I don’t know exactly which one it is; there are a few it could be.  I haven’t actually looked at it too closely.”

“You smelled of smoke yesterday.  You must have been quite near it.”

“I turned and ran.”  As he said that, he hugged his legs to his body and started to shiver.

Lewis became aware that the room was heating up.  He couldn’t hear any sounds from the boiler, so he looked round to discover the source of the heat.  Hathaway grabbed the throw from the back of the settee and tried to hide under it.

Lewis stood up and walked over to the window, intending to open it and let some cooler air in.  As he did so, he thought he heard footsteps in the passage and the sitting room door started to glow.  At once, he went to stand between Hathaway and the door.

“In my day,” Lewis said “dragons were defeated by knights in shining armour who rescued damsels in distress.  You may not be a damsel and my armour is somewhat rusty, but between us both, we are going to defeat this dragon.”

The footsteps retreated and the room returned to its normal temperature.

Lewis sat back down on the settee and put an arm round Hathaway, pulling him into his chest.  He then hugged him close.

“Whatever it is - and for ease of reference, we will call it a dragon - comes closer whenever you show fear.  Yet, if I put myself between you and it, it retreats.  So, whilst I have both arms around you, it will keep its distance.  Start talking.”

“Dragons do exist, even though most people are unaware of them.  They don’t have to be huge; most of the time they are about the size of a frog.  They only grow when they come to claim what they have been promised.  Even then, their essential physical matter is only that of a frog, which means that the matter is stretched out on a full sized dragon so that the general populace will just think there’s dust in the air.  Even that will not remain for long, because a dragon will move quickly.”

Lewis grunted to show that he was listening, but did not comment as he did not wish to interrupt Hathaway’s explanation.

“As a small child, I was offered to a dragon, in exchange for my mother keeping her beauty.  When I was sixteen, she told me that one day, the dragon would come for me and extract whatever it wanted.  I thought that by joining the church, I could escape, but the more committed I became, the worse my dreams grew and I knew I had to leave.  I thought that as a police officer, I would be able to protect myself.  And for the last few years, this has been the case, but no longer.”

Hathaway started to shake again, despite Lewis’ arms still being round him. 

Lewis looked across the room and thought that he could almost make out a large shape shimmering on the far side.  He held Hathaway tighter and the shape vanished.

“What does it want from you?”

“That I won’t know until it takes it, by which time it will be too late.”

Lewis thought for a moment.  “I don’t understand how your mother could have valued her beauty above your life.”

“That was what the dragon wanted: her beauty.  The only way she could save herself was to offer something she loved in return.  This was what had happened to her – she was offered to the dragon by her father.”

“So what, this dragon wants you to either pledge something you love or give yourself up to it?”

“Yes.”

“I wasn’t aware that you were that close to anyone at the moment.”

“There’s only one person and I can’t do that, sir.”

Lewis thought for a moment.  “Oh!”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to say anything.  And I would never do anything like that to you.  I’m so sorry.”

Hathaway was blushing and burbling incoherently.

“One thing at a time, lad.  First of all we need to sort this dragon out.  After which you can tell me a little more about your feelings, which, you may be surprised to know, are not entirely unwelcome.”

Hathaway swallowed and said, “I will not offer you in my place.”

“Who said anything about being offered?  Perhaps I’m planning on taking the initiative; there may be a reason why my middle name is George.  And now, since I do not intend confronting a dragon on an empty stomach I shall make us some lunch.”

***

After lunch, following Hathaway’s instructions, they drove to a wooded area.  Hathaway led the way into the woods, with Lewis following close behind.  At one point they came to a fork in the path and Hathaway stopped to consider which would be the better route.  Lewis glanced down and spotted what looked like a letter opener lying on the ground.  Absent-mindedly he picked it up and slipped it into his pocket, knowing that it was an area where children came to play and not wanting a small child to pick it up.

They had come into a clearing when Hathaway stopped.  Lewis stood beside him and put an arm round his back.  It was not long before he became aware that the temperature was rising.  As he watched, the dragon materialised before him.  He swallowed; despite what he had previously imagined, this beast was magnificent.  Lewis estimated that the head was about ten feet off the ground and the body was roughly thirty foot long.  It was covered in turquoise scales, which shimmered as they caught the sunlight filtering through the trees.  Its belly was lime green.  Lewis stood and gawped at the creature.

Hathaway clearly had known what to expect and he spoke now, his voice quavering only slightly.  “What do you want from me?”

“Your music.”  The words seemed to come from the depths of the dragon’s throat.  “You will give me all your music and you will be able to neither play, nor hear differing notes any more.”

Hathaway stood completely still.  He had been prepared for many things, but the dragon taking away something that he enjoyed above everything else had not occurred to him.  Lewis could see that he was struggling, and before Hathaway had the chance to respond to the dragon, Lewis spoke up. “You will not take that from him.”

The dragon swung his neck to glare at Lewis.  “And what do you offer instead?”

Lewis put his hand in his pocket and felt his fingers curl round the letter opener.  He pulled it out and as he did so, the light shone on it.  To Lewis’ surprise, he could feel the letter opener growing heavier.  He looked down and realised that he was holding a sword in his hand.

The dragon hissed.  Lewis took a step backward; he had never handled a sword before and did not fully understand what was happening.  The dragon’s head lunged towards him.  Lewis grasped the hilt and pointed the sword at the dragon’s neck, which was rapidly withdrawn.  Lewis made a stabbing movement towards the dragon, to which it took a step backwards.  The dragon swung round and started to leave the clearing.  Lewis raised the sword in the air and began to run after the dragon as it headed into the trees.  Hathaway watched as a mist came down and hid both Lewis and the dragon from his sight.

Slowly the sun started to burn through the cover and Hathaway saw Lewis striding back towards him.  He was no longer holding the sword.

“Are you okay?” Hathaway asked anxiously.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“And the dragon?”

“It won’t be bothering you any more.”

Lewis did not volunteer any further information and Hathaway didn’t press him for it.

They headed back out of the woods in companionable silence, shoulders rubbing as they walked side by side along the narrow path, until they reached Lewis’ car.

“Right,” Lewis said.  “I’ll drop you back at your flat, so that you can cook dinner whilst I go into work.  I reckon I deserve a decent meal following this afternoon’s adventure.  And then we should talk about why exactly the dragon decided there was someone in your life that you loved sufficiently to be of interest to it.”

Lewis felt in his pocket for his car keys and took the letter opener out at the same time.

“You’ve still got it then?” Hathaway said as he noticed the opener.

“Oh yes!  You never know when there’ll be another dragon that needs to be overcome.”


End file.
